Brotherhood
by Rev897
Summary: The world has been at war for many years. Newly initiated as a warrior, Silver faces a whole world of dangers, challenges, and tests of his courage. But he is not alone. Even in the worst of circumstances, the bond of brotherhood stands strong.


**I'm baaaaaaaaack. Yep, it's Rev897 again, with that story I told you about at the end of The Countdown. This is going to be an AU fic, but it'll draw elements from the games, the comics, and maybe even some of the TV shows. And, as you can see in the description, it is not a mystery fic like The Countdown was. So let's see if I can keep you readers interested without the aid of an unsolved mystery. Enjoy.**

Brotherhood

Prologue

Beams of light shone through the treetops of a quiet forest. The ground was covered with fallen brown leaves and pine needles. Through the foliage, there were many bird calls and rustles of small animals to be heard. The setting was very soothing to a weary soul. All of nature's beauty was reflected in its tranquility. The weather was very warm as summer was beginning. There were still many wildflowers to be seen, though not as many as there were in spring. It was a perfect day to be outside playing, which two boys were taking full advantage of.

"Come on, big brother! I bet you can't catch me!"

"Oh yeah? I'll show you!"

The two boys laughed as they ran through the forest. To them, all of the world had disappeared, and it was just them having a good time together. The younger of them was named Silver. He was a hedgehog with metallic gray fur and quills that stood up at the front, not unlike a five-pointed star. His eyes were yellowish and he wore a small brown hooded cloak with a thin rope tied around his waist, seeing as he was still in training.

His brother was named Shadow. He was also a hedgehog, only two years older than Silver. His fur was black with red streaks along the middle of his upturned quills and at his forearms and shins. His eyes were red, uncommon among Mobians, but not unheard of. He had already completed his training, and wore a black sleeveless shirt with gray pants along with black shoes and several pouches to hold his various tools. Unique to him, however, were two golden bands around his wrists.

The two of them were young warriors of the Mobian race, known as Shonis. They were caught in a war that had lasted for many many years and had claimed countless lives. But now, they were simply boys, running around the forest, only caring who was able to tag whom.

"I'm catching up!" warned Shadow, closing in on Silver like a lion trying to catch a particularly speedy antelope.

"Are not!" called Silver, panting for breath as he tried to outrun his extremely fast brother.

Shadow was already a fully-fledged Shoni, one of the youngest to ever become one. He was already very well known for his speed, only rivaled by one other. As such, he was made a scout, and did not disappoint as a field Shoni. His missions kept him away from home for long periods of time, but he always enjoyed coming back to see his little brother. This was one of the few occasions where they actually had enough time to play together.

Silver was still learning at the Shoni academy, always wanting to follow what his big brother had done. Not all children went to become Shoni, some became apprentices in other things like blacksmithing, farming, textiles, music, art, or any number of things. But Silver turned all of those professions down simply because he admired his brother so much and wanted to be like him. He was already promising to be a fine Shoni, though not able to graduate as early as Shadow. This did not discourage Silver, but made him want to work all the harder to catch up with his brother.

But right now, it was his brother catching up with him. No matter how quickly Silver ran, his brother's great speed wouldn't let up. "Here I come!" teased Shadow.

"No!" laughed Silver. He closed his eyes and laughed out of sheer joy of being able to play like this again. Sure, he had plenty of other friends, but none of them could replace Shadow. Shadow was so cool, strong, fast, and could give better advice than any of them. Plus, Shadow was his brother. He always seemed to be there when Silver needed him, even when their parents didn't seem to understand. Right now, Silver couldn't ask for anything better in the world.

At least he thought so until his cloak was caught on a stick that made him trip and fall. He hit the ground and slid a bit, giving him a few scrapes. Of course, he didn't mind these. He had been taught how to handle pain at the academy. Soon enough, though, he had rolled over onto his back, and his brother was standing over him with an outstretched hand. Both of them were panting heavily as their game had been going on for a while. Silver took Shadow's hand, but before he was pulled up, Shadow said, "Tag, you're it."

"Ha ha, no fair!" said Silver, taking his hand back. "I have to run around in this dumb cloak and you have your scout clothes on. Those are easier to run in!" This was more true than one would think at first glance. Cloaks worn by Shoni trainees had special enchantments cast on them that made them much heavier than other forms of clothing. From time to time, they would become heavier and lighter in order to teach them to be ready to fight no matter what weight they carried. At this moment, Silver's cloak had, indeed, become much heavier.

"Yeah? Well I'd still beat you even if it was me in the cloak," retorted Shadow as Silver got to his feet.

"Would not!" said Silver, brushing the pine needles off of his hindering cloak.

"Sorry, I couldn't hear you. I was too busy being the youngest scout in Shoni history," said Shadow.

"Whatever!" laughed Silver. The two then sat down on the ground, catching their breath and nursing small cuts.

"It's great to be back," said Shadow. "I miss this place whenever I'm out on missions."

"Ha!" said Silver. "At least you get to do more than writing tests and physical training every day."

Shadow gave a small chuckle. "Believe me, I wish the world out there was as simple as those writing tests were."

Silver tilted his head slightly. He had always been intrigued at the prospect of the 'world out there.' All of his life had been spent in their village with occasional travels to other villages. He had never seen anything outside of their protected borders other than illustrations in their books of blazing hot deserts, lush green plains, or frigid tundra. In fact, he had never even seen the enemy that they were fighting in their war. He only knew that there were two kinds: humans and machines. The humans were the brains behind the destructively powerful machines. Of course, he had been shown what they looked like, but still had yet to see one or speak to one. Still, they had been taught that humans would sooner kill them than speak to them.

"Have you ever met a human, brother?" asked Silver.

Shadow's head snapped up. "Of... of course I have. He was strong, but I managed to kill him." The way that he refused to meet Silver's eye seemed suspicious.

"No, I mean, have you ever spoken to one?"

Shadow looked alarmed. Had Silver's question been so ludicrous that it shocked Shadow to have even heard it? "No, of course not," he replied, shortly. "They never want to talk."

"Oh," said Silver, his ears drooping. "So they're that bad, huh?"

"I didn't say that," said Shadow, still not looking Silver in the eye.

Silver was astonished. All his life, he had been taught that humans were the scum of the planet, the most destructive things in existence, but was Shadow saying that they weren't that bad? "What are you saying, brother?" asked Silver.

"Just..." said a hesitant Shadow, "I've seen some humans on my scouting missions that don't seem to hate us as much as the others. Like, you know how we have some people who think we should end the war on our side? It's the same thing over there."

"Oh," said Silver, still not convinced that this was the whole truth. It was true that some Mobians thought that there should be negotiations rather than fighting. Unfortunately, the machines always killed them whenever they crossed to the human territory looking for diplomacy. Silver wasn't aware that there might have been humans that had done the same thing. He supposed that they had been killed as well.

"Look, just forget about it," said Shadow, finally meeting Silver's eye. "How is your special training coming along?"

Shadow was referring to the special 'gifts' that most Mobians were born with that humans did not have. These were the things that set Mobians apart from humans. Humans were still much larger and stronger than Mobians (with the exception of Mobians with strength as their gift), but did not have the kinds of powers that Mobians had. Of course, their gifts required years of practice and discipline to master, or even perform. Those without that training were as powerless as humans. Silver's gift was the gift of mind. He had several abilities including psychokinesis and telepathy which were still underdeveloped. Perhaps if his telepathic powers were better trained, he could have found out what Shadow was hiding from him.

"It's going all right, I guess," he said. "I can lift a few books and stuff, but I still can't psychokinetically lift anything as big as a human or machine."

"That's all right," said Shadow. "Trust me, it took me years to get much more than a Chaos Butterknife out."

Silver chuckled. Shadow's gift was very special, something that only appeared once in a while: the Chaos gift. According to the shamans, he had been chosen to wield the power of the great god, Chaos and his Chaos Emeralds. This gift, apparently, had many possible forms. Shadow's were the divine judgement of Chaos Spear, and the godly wind of Chaos Control. Chaos Spear was a burst of pure Chaos Energy that could destroy nearly anything, and Chaos Control allowed him to teleport to any location that he could think of, so long as he was in contact with a Chaos Emerald. Needless to say, Silver was more than a bit jealous that his brother had been chosen for that sort of thing and he had not.

"Who did you go to for your special training, big brother?" asked Silver. He knew that Shadow had gone somewhere special for it. Shadow would sometimes leave for days, and Silver was forbidden to follow. When he returned, his Chaos powers would always have improved. Silver had always wondered where and who Shadow had gone to. Of course, he also had training, but it was with others with the mind gift. Shadow was one of very few in history to be chosen for his gift, so he must have received individual attention and special privileges. Silver had always thought that it was with some of the echidnas, the higher-ups of Mobian society and the main race of the shamans.

Shadow simply smiled and said, "I've told you, it's a secret. I can't tell anyone what I've been doing. The Chaos gift is-"

"-Is a rare and dangerous thing that can never be made useful to the humans. I know, you've told me so many times," said Silver.

"Then why can't you just let it go?" asked Shadow.

"Well, I'm your brother, right? I feel like I should know who taught my brother how to do all of this cool stuff."

"Tell you what," said Shadow with a smile. "If I ever get into so much trouble that I'm about to die, and you save my life, I'll tell you who I went to."

Silver perked up. "Really?" Shadow nodded. Silver was somewhat suspicious. "How do I know you're not lying?"

"What's the matter? Don't you trust me?" Shadow extended his hand.

Silver hesitated. "And what happens if you go back on your word?"

Shadow gave a pensive frown. "If I don't tell you the truth, I'll give you my wrist bands."

Silver looked down at the golden bands. "Is that it?" Sure, they looked pretty authentic, but was that the best Shadow could do? He was expecting something more like embarrassing himself in front of the village or giving Silver all of his tools.

"You don't know what these things do, do you, little brother?" said Shadow in the most patronizing voice he could muster.

"What?" asked Silver. Was there really something special about his wrist bands, or was he just bluffing to make Silver take the bet? Then again, what did Silver really have to lose in this situation?

"I guess you'll have to take them to find out what they do," said Shadow, smiling smugly.

"Okay," said Silver, taking Shadow's hand. "It's a bet."

"Silver! Shadow! Are you out here?" called a voice in the distance.

"We're over here, father," called back Shadow.

Silver turned to see a figure walking through the forest towards them. It was a blue hedgehog on a walking stick with green eyes and a large white moustache. He was wearing a black cloak, signifying his position as a village wise man, and a very broad smile. "Had fun today, you two?" asked Charles Hedgehog.

"Oh yes, father!" said Silver. "I just wish this cloak wasn't so heavy."

Charles chuckled. "You won't have to deal with it in a couple of years. You're progressing very quickly."

Silver gave an appreciative albeit shy smile. "Oh, stop smirking like a little girl. You know it's true," teased Shadow.

"Shut up!" laughed Silver, lightly punching his brother on the shoulder.

"Be nice, you two," said Charles, giving a softly reproachful look.

"Yes, father," said the brothers in unison, though they both knew that how they spoke to each other was their form of being nice.

Charles, though playfully skeptical about the truthfulness of their response, said, "Let's get on home, boys. Your Aunt Bernadette has cooked up a very nice dinner for us."

Silver perked up. He loved visits from Aunt Bernadette and Uncle Jules. Aunt Bernadette made the best food he had ever tasted. But Shadow was not quite so enthusiastic, giving a small groan.

Charles gave him a warning look. All three of them knew what made Shadow cringe: cousin Sonic. Sonic was the only person in the village who could rival Shadow's speed, but was not made a Shoni after being deemed too irresponsible and reckless. Silver enjoyed his company because of how entertaining and friendly he was. Shadow disliked him because, even Silver had to admit, Sonic could be extremely talkative and a bit of a show-off.

"Shadow," said Charles, "I know that Sonic can be quite a handful-"

Shadow gave a loud cough in which Silver thought he heard the word "twat."

"But he's family, and like it or not, you'll probably be teamed up with him on missions because of his speed," finished Charles.

Shadow sighed loudly. "So true, it hurts." He stood up to walk home. "Let's get this over with."

Silver stood up as well while Charles shook his head then turned around. "I expect that attitude to change by the time we get home," said Charles, over his shoulder.

"I'll bet you also expect a giant turkey to fall from the sky and start tap dancing," Shadow muttered.

Silver stifled a laugh, which caught Charles's attention, but he decided that it would be better to just keep walking.

The forest had already turned darker as the sun went down, but they knew the forest well enough to be able to walk back to their house with their eyes closed. Most of the bird calls had begun fading away and were replaced by chirping insects and the occasional hoot of an owl.

Silver was now more excited than ever to graduate. If he was ever put on the same mission as Shadow, there was a chance that he might save his life and be able to find out who trained him. Who knows? He might even be able to learn something as well.

In due time, they saw the lights of their village as the lamps burned inside the huts. Not too far from them was a large wooden guard tower with several archer Shoni at the top. That tower was mainly a herald of homeward bound Shoni and a receiver for battlefield messages. Its original purpose was to serve as a lookout for incoming enemies and to alert surrounding villages of their presence with several horns and a beacon fire. But the village had yet to see any of the fighting, so it was a fairly boring for the sentries on top. One of them waved down at the group, and they waved back.

"Evening Charles, Shadow, Silver!" called the sentry.

"Good evening, Bean!" called Charles. "Have you been behaving yourself?"

"Oh yes!" replied Bean. He was a small bird with a red scarf around his neck and a serious case of pyromania. "All of my bombs exploded in mid-air today, and no residual damage!"

"That's very good!" said Charles. "Now we know that if any machines come our way, you could blow them up in an instant."

"Y-Yes," replied Bean in a trembling voice. "Blow them... up. Blow them sky high with a bomb so massive that they'll be completely and UTTERLY ANNIHILA-"

He was cut short by a small dart to his neck that caused him to smile dumbly and fall over backwards.

"If we didn't have these tranquilizers, the whole village would have been turned to a smoldering crater weeks ago. I see why they didn't want to send him out into the field," said another sentry.

"Good night, boys!" called Charles.

"Good night, Charles," came the reply.

They then walked up the hillside on which the majority of the huts stood. At the top of the hill was a large escape tunnel that led to the safe village of Knothole. Next to it was a two-story building that was the main housing for the village shamans and the village Shoni academy. It had a large red symbol on it of a garland wrapped around the hilt of a knife, then curving to make a circle around the blade, the two ends meeting at the tip, the main symbol of the Shoni.

They eventually made it to their home where the pleasant smell of fresh bread and soup wafted into Silver's nostrils. After being able to play with Shadow all day, and coming home to Aunt Bernadette's cooking, he sighed, "Best day ever."

"For you," said Shadow. "For me, the best day ever will be over in 3...2...1..."

Right on cue, the high voice of cousin Sonic called, "Mom! Dad! Uncle Chuck, Silver, and Shadow are here!"

Silver smiled, Shadow sighed, and Charles laughed.

**Yup, I made Uncle Chuck Shadow and Silver's dad. *trollface* U MAD? Nah, but like most of the things in The Countdown, this will be explained in time as well. Hope you like it so far. Later!**


End file.
